Sunday 25 April 2010

A bitty messy morning

A whole wadge of stuff has been added from yesterday, courtesy of Sean's lengthy work-related vigil.  Thanks Sean.  Best = 3 x Little Tern & 180 or so Arctic Tern.  Note that 350 Arctic Tern, single dm Arctic Skua were seen at JBP yesterday prior to Heysham observations (c0600-0700hrs) 

Heysham Obs
Rain interrupted any mist netting & put the lid on vis, without seeming to 'drop' a great deal in the form of migrants and poor visibility hampered the seawatching. 

Ocean Edge/Red Nab foreshore
Med Gull - 1st summer with black head on the incoming tide tideline with 48 Common and 17 Black-headed Gulls

North harbour wall
Little Gull - ad blogging in the harbour mouth briefly, then out
Gannet - 18 in
Red-throated Diver - 3 (1 out, 2 in)
Guillemot - 5 (in or on sea)
Razorbill - 1 (on sea)
Sandwich Tern - 4 ('blogging', inc. 2 mating on yellow buoy)
Arctic Tern - 3 in, then at 11.45 - flock of 11 Arctic Terns out & at 12.00 - flock of 36 Arctic Terns in.
Common Scoter - 5 in
Eider - 50 (45 in, 5 out)
Whimbrel - 1 out
Swallow - 15 in
Turnstone - 354-ish jetty
Purple Sandpiper - 1 jetty
Meadow Pipit - 6
Linnet - 5
alba Wagtail - 3
Goldfinch - 5

Wheatear
One on the end of the wooden jetty, 2 on north harbour wall and 7 on Ocean Edge foreshore first thing

Middleton nature reserve/IE
Grasshopper Warbler - at least three singing males, one visible from the official community woodland footpath and the screen
Reed Warbler - one singing by the no swimming pond - very unusual record in April for here, they usually arrive very late in the protracted migration arrival period.  Hopefully it will stay
Sedge Warbler - 6+ singing males
Tufted Duck - pair on new scrape

Elsewhere
Dotterel still present Abbeystead Lane for third day.  Cuckoo Roeburndale and dm Arctic Skua (& 4 Arctic tern) JBP this late afternoon.  NEARLY went back to Heysham for the incoming tide.  Did anyone cover late evening?  Also 6 Yellow Wagtail in a field near Bank Houses - a record passage count for this species in our area in recent years.  Unless hear to the contrary in the next few days, Cetti's Warblers have presumed to have left Leighton Moss and no recent report of booming Bittern